Drip Irrigation Cost per Acre for Vegetables
Real per-acre install and per-season operating cost of drip irrigation on plasticulture and bare-ground vegetables.
Drip is the default irrigation for Southeast vegetables — plasticulture requires it, and bare-ground yields lift 20–40% with it. The install-vs-operating math looks different by crop cycle length.
Per-acre install cost (one season)
- Drip tape (single-season, 8-mil, 12-in emitter): $180–260
- Layflat mainline + fittings: $140
- Injection pump (fertilizer): $60 amortized
- Filter (screen or disc): $40 amortized
- Pressure regulator + backflow: $25 amortized
- Install labor (2 people, 4 hrs): $120
- Total year-1: ~$565–745/acre
Multi-season lift
Heavier 15-mil tape lasts 3–5 seasons on plasticulture. Adds ~$150/acre vs 8-mil, but amortized cost drops to $80–120/acre/yr. Mainline, pump, and filter last 8–15 years — after year 1, per-season is ~$220–320/acre.
Water and power
Vegetables need ~1 in/wk = ~27,000 gal/acre/wk. Pumping cost on electricity averages $8–15/acre/wk; on diesel $18–35. Well capacity (gpm) sizes your maximum simultaneous acreage — plan 5–10 gpm/acre.
Fertigation
Weekly fertigation lifts yield another 10–20% vs pre-plant only. Injecting 30–40% of season N through drip is the norm for Southeast tomatoes and peppers.
Run this in BAU, not a spreadsheet
The planner, calculator, and buyer marketplace are included on every plan.